I'm wondering the same thing. Is it not in the FAA standard phraseology for RT comms? Mayday x 3 at the start of an emergency call not the procedure/requirement for emergency situations for FAA training/exams?
The link given says "..... aircraft in
distress should begin with the signal MAYDAY"
So the pilots see that it says "should", not shall or are required?
I have also observed that often the same ATC controller will after a bit, ask the pilot to confirm POB, FOB, etc, again, which was just given the same controller and acknowledged earlier. Is it SOP for ATC to get the pilot to repeat these details? It seems annoying and distracting to ask for these details that were already stated and acknowledged as the cockpit workload is very high and stressful. Also note that when handed over to another sector controller they often ask for the same info given on the earlier ATC frequency. Does ATC during handover not pass on whether it's an emergency and other info? Or do they need to ask this again?
Originally Posted by
Mike Flynn
The Alaskan 737 door blowout once again highlights the reluctance of some US pilots to use the standard ICAO phrase Mayday when declaring an emergency.
Listening to the conversation with ATC there appeared confusion with the initial situation because of the lack of standard ICAO phraseology.